Not sure if it effects dev time . I will say this . The best most successful mmo's out there try to limit moderation and keep people talking about the game . People unsub when they loose their line of communication . An since this game has no cross faction chat or merged zones that allow open chat , many come to the forums to do it .
A wise man said Fish only thrive where the water is a little merky . In other words over look some things and people will flourish together . Too many rules makes people want to leave for more comfortable space .
There's no doubt the games population has taken hits since launch . Being pro active instead of prohibiting is the logical choice for customer service . The people that stayed here over looked a lot of flaws with the game and ZOS . Perhaps they should return some in kind ?